Change of Heart
by Kibou32
Summary: Both Inuyasha and Kagome need to learn boundaries. But if their friends tell them so, they won't do it, so a fairy tired of their quarrels decides to take matters into her own hands. Who is to say that not only would the two of them learn their limitati
1. Prologue

Change of Heart

By: Hope Poe26

Disclaimer: Inuyasha is owned by Rumiko Takahashi. I, certainly couldn't do this type of work myself, simply because I can't draw shit.

Summary: What would happen if after almost getting killed in a vicious verbal fight (ok.. maybe not only verbal but physical as well) between Inuyasha and Kagome, a fairy would put a spell on them to learn the limitations of each of their bodies and the only way they could disperse the spell is to be true to each other's feelings?

Prologue. 

"You… kono-yarou! Osuwari!" – Kagome screamed at him as she forced him to fall face first into the dirt. She ranted, she screamed and she tried to kick him too!

"You bitch!" – he said when he could stand up, he swiftly caught up and tried to grab her.

She had been worried when he didn't come soon to pick her up at the well, when she saw Kikyou's Shini-dama-chuu – her soul collectors – around the forest. It was after all the night of the new moon and he was _with_ Kikyou!

She hated him so much then and it pained her so much because deep down she knew she didn't hate him. She loved him, too much it seemed. And their fight had started in as soon as he came into view and she had asked him if he were ready to go to hell with Kikyou. But her expressions and her voice tone were nasty, trying to hurt him instead of the other well-known tone she was used to take up on him whenever they spoke of Kikyou.

"Chotto matte! Kagome!" – he was frustrated. He had done nothing wrong, he _had _been with Kikyou, but nothing ever was the way Kagome thought it was. They had been speaking… talking like friends… friends – he supposed – that they were now but before they had not had the chance to do so. He still loved Kikyou in his own special way, but it was different now.

She stopped. Her back to him. And for a minute he was worried. He didn't like her that much when she was in her anger spree. He loved Kagome. He cared for her in a way he could never care for Kikyou. For Kikyou… she had been too far independent for him. Kagome was independent, but the issue as to why he felt different with her was because she was _not_ Kikyou. They looked alike, but they were completely different people.

"I.." – he couldn't find the words to tell her that he had not been doing what she thought he did. But it was always so hard to explain to her what he had hoped time after time he didn't have to explain. He was not a man of words, more of actions. He felt so insecure when he had to speak up, be heard above the voices of anyone else. He was smart. Yet, he hadn't known anything of politics or anything else as such.

"You what? I'm so sick and tired of hearing your excuses Inuyasha." – her resigned voice made his heart ache. And without knowing why he took a step towards her, hoping she would let him hug her.

He had no such chance, because before he could even try it, she had run away and she – knowing he could easily catch up with her – had said: "OSUWARI!", leaving him unconscious on the ground.

°°°°

Bakas! All of those humans, demons, hanyous! She hated the sounds, the yells, the constant screaming, the constant earth-moving around. The fights, the hatred filled comments meant to hurt each other. She was so tired of it all. It was time that they learnt – perhaps the hard way – that each other had limitations. That they both cared for the other, that they _should_ know of the other one's feelings without having to be reassured every single time.

It was time. It was time that the girl respected the hanyou's body limitations. It was time the hanyou respected the girl's heart-felt emotions. She grinned suddenly. Her smile turned wicked. What better way of letting them learn this the hard way than by casting a spell on their bodies. She would make them change their sexes. The hanyou would no longer be male, but female and the human would no longer be female but male. Yes, this could work. The next night… the night of the full moon, she would carry out her plan.


	2. Chapter 1

One.

Sango noticed it first. The youki that surrounded Kagome and Inuyasha. She tried to breach the subject with each of them separately, but they both refused to be spoken to. It seemed that Kagome and Inuyasha had fought again. More and more often than not it was about Inuyasha's love for Kikyou. Although she sometimes felt angered towards the hanyou for hurting her onee-san so much, sometimes – like today – Sango felt that this was all Kagome's doing. She had hurt him and though she continued on as if nothing had happened between them, she could tell that Kagome onee-san felt guilty.

As to Inuyasha? Well… he didn't speak. Not when her dear houshi-sama made fun of him. Not when Shippou hopped onto his shoulder and began to nag him – in that case he only pushed him off his shoulder and without notice – no words to the people walking behind him – he left the site. Since they could not move further without Inuyasha – even she was ready to admit that though she could defend herself pretty well, the youkai they interacted on a regular basis were too strong for only her and Houshi-sama to fight against – they decided to make camp where they stood.

She sighed. Felt the hand creep onto her rear-end and though she was upset at her dear houshi-sama's liberties, she only slapped him and sat on the ground. She pulled out a cloth from her small pack and started to clean her Hiraikotsu. She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the youki that surrounded Kagome.

"Do you feel it Sango-chan?" – Miroku sat next to her with his back to Kagome so she wouldn't hear their conversation.

"The youki that has been surrounding them? Yeah. It has been with them since Kagome came back to the village a week ago. I had not perceived it until two days ago when we were bathing in that spring."

"Ah." – was all he said. "What do you supposed happened between them? Kagome-san feels more than guilty and Inuyasha isn't speaking to any of us at the moment."

She nodded. "I'm not sure. It could be that Kagome overreacted and sat him one too many times before Inuyasha had enough and felt like going off for awhile." – she raised her head to see where Kagome was seated – or had been when she realized that Kagome had left them and Shippou alone.

She panicked. Miroku turned to look around their make-shift campsite and realized belatedly that Kagome was nowhere in sight.

"Miroku no baka!" – he hissed between his teeth knowing that even though Kagome and Inuyasha were in the middle of a turf-war, if they didn't find Kagome soon, there'd be hell to pay.

Little did they know that their worrying was for naught because at that very moment Kagome had followed Inuyasha to a secret cave spring and found to her surprise that Inuyasha was bathing. At that specific moment, he was not bathing but just lying on his back on top of the water… floating.

And she felt embarrassed. He was beautiful. She had seen him naked before, but this time… this time he was relaxed and when she looked down onto his manhood, she felt something stir inside of her. She blushed. Realized that she was now a hentai and to top it off she was getting turned on from just seeing him swim backwards in the small spring.

"Kagome no baka." – she was startled to hear him say that with his eyes closed.

She started to sweat thinking he had smelled her or heard her come into the cave. But when those luminous golden eyes didn't pin her to the spot, she relaxed a little. He was just speaking his mind. Though he called her a baka, why wasn't she screaming expletives for his lack of respect towards her?

He turned his face to the water and swam underneath the water. She was looking at him with wonder in her face. And then the unthinkable happened. He stood up from the spring's edge and walked near her with his eyes closed. Both thought in their minds at the same time…

/_What I wouldn't give…_/

°°°°

When the next morning came, Inuyasha was lying against a tree and Kagome was on her sleeping bag. But when Kagome stood up and yawned pushing her skirt a little higher, Inuyasha blinked twice at her—him?

"Kagome?"

Inuyasha had been asleep until he realized that something was wrong with his body. And as he looked at Kagome stretching, he felt weird. 'Cause Kagome did not look female, in fact; he was willing to bet that it wasn't her at all!

Kagome turned to her left and gasped. Only then did she realized that something was definitely wrong with both of them!

"You're a girl!" – she shouted as did he saying the opposite: "You're a boy!"

Kagome blushed. Checked out her new body with her hand and felt ultimately hentai. She was a girl in a man's body. Then she looked at Inuyasha and almost choked on her own saliva. Inuyasha looked like a goddess.

The white almost silver unkempt hair looked like silk now, his golden eyes – her – looked like hot honey and her face was the most ethereal looking even with the two doggie ears on the top of her head. Her hakama was failing to hold still to her wide but slender hips and most of the muscle mass that he used to have as a guy was gone. She was athletic, beautiful, delicate looking.

His introspective insight was mush now that the others had awoken and Sango screamed.

°°°°

"So you don't know how it happened?" – she asked them both and received a negative nod.

It was not funny. Sango thought as she curved her inner desire to thump Shippou on the head, but could not. Shippou was laughing so hard that he had peed twice in his little pants. Miroku was unconscious. He had tried to grab Inuyasha's ass and had gotten hit on the head by Sango's giant boomerang. Sango ground her teeth in frustration, things could not be any worst.

At least this time, they were wearing the right kind of clothes. Kagome had brought with her – him – two pair of jeans this time and they each were wearing one. Although, the jeans on Inuyasha looked wrong. She was so slender it made Sango a little jealous. But that was before she remembered that Inuyasha was a guy in a girl's body. And that made her so sad.

Later that day, as Kagome and Inuyasha fought with each of their bodies, Sango begun to wonder if the day could get any worst. It had been decided that they would make their way to Sesshoumaru's castle. Only because he was an all-knowing tai-youkai and he would probably be able to discern the problem with Inuyasha. But she was wrong to ask if it could get anymore worst, because as soon as that thought left her; they were attacked by a horde of demons.

°°°°

Inuyasha stood with her skin soaked in blood from the fight with those nezumi youkai. Those vicious rats hadn't been so much a trouble as the other two youkai that came after them. The clothes that had been a 'loan' from Kagome were virtually rags now. There was next to almost nothing covering her 'modesty' except for one rag over her breasts and the other one – some underwear that Kagome had lent her – that was a little loose. But other than the fact that she might've been standing naked there – she didn't feel indignant at all for some reason and she was more on the verge on laughing out loud, because Shippou had closed his eyes and there was this lingering blush on the bridge of his nose that showed that he was embarrassed.

While she had been male… Shippou was used to bathe with Kagome and sometimes – although it was almost rare – with him, there were no strange moments. But now… she was half-youkai and although Shippou was not a full-grown demon – like her brother Sesshoumaru – he was a teenager and he was just beginning to understand the difference between male and female youkai thru her.

Miroku was unconscious again. After the fight, he had rushed towards her to grab her ass – which again he was not successful – and Sango had hit him hard. Kagome was clean, but she decided with a sigh that was probably not for the best. She was at a disadvantage and until her haori and hakama fixed themselves, she had nothing to wear.

"Itai!" – she yipped when a big hand with claws touched her hind-end so intimately.

Sango appeared to growl in anger again, but Inuyasha felt afraid for this had never happened to her. She looked to the left and found Kagome seething as Kouga sauntered over towards her again.

"Well… if isn't Inuyasha." "What happened puppy? Did you fall into something you weren't supposed to fall into?" – she flinched at his taunt. She felt tears gathering to her eyes at the crude talk, but she forced them down her throat. She was not weak.

For the first time, she noticed that he was a bit handsome. She growled at herself for noticing something so inconsequential at the moment. She felt Sango guide her away from Kouga and when she turned to look back at him, found herself to be utterly and completely bewildered when she saw Kouga being decked by Kagome.

°°°°

It was probably late at night when they reached Sesshoumaru's castle. And even before they dared to call on his behalf, he was there grabbing Inuyasha off the ground by her haori. Before she could utter a word, he had put her back – gently? – on the ground.

"Inuyasha?" – he was a bit confused, but he was sure it was him… or her? She nodded once at him and Sesshoumaru turned to lead the way inside his castle.


	3. Chapter 2

Two.

Sesshoumaru sent Kouga out of his domain with a fierce glare. He had caught him leering at his _sister_ and though he didn't particularly cared for Inuyasha before, his protective side raged that this bakayarou – though Kouga was the prince of the Northern Lands – was openly leering at a girl, his sister no less! Inuyasha as a male was perfectly old enough to take care of himself. Inuyasha as a female was not. She was so young and though her scent said otherwise, she did not have the exact maturity to mate.

Which was why she had been relegated to stay with Rin while he spoke to the exterminator and the male miko – who he lately understood to be the female miko turned male that went by the name of Kagome – about what they could do for Inuyasha and the new upcoming situation. He did not like to speak to humans, but it was the best thing he could do for the moment. This was the second day they had been inside his castle.

It was late at night when Sango – the demon exterminator – remembered about the strange surrounding youki and decided to go tell Sesshoumaru about it. What she found was a bit on the 'twilight zone'… Sesshoumaru and the kid – who was no longer a kid – named Rin were in a passionate embrace. And she suddenly decided to leave as quickly as possible. As she was retracing her steps, a voice she knew very well stopped her from the shadows.

"Does it surprise you?" – she turned to see golden eyes in the middle of the dark… they pinned her in her place and she was suddenly shocked to the very core of her existence to realize that while male Inuyasha was somewhat clueless on matters of the heart, female Inuyasha was a genius when it came to other people's feelings… except maybe her own.

"Uh.. yes it actually does. I didn't expected it." – there was a snort and Inuyasha came out of the shadows.

"It was in his scent when he grabbed me. Didn't realize it until I saw Rin later, the mark on her shoulder is supposed to be a mating mark." – Sango gasped.

"I thought…" – she couldn't help it, knowing that Rin was a human… she didn't know however how it had ever come to be that one little girl would suddenly turn into the tai-youkai's mating interest.

"Just so you know… inu-youkai mate for life. So unless Rin dies – which I don't think would be happening anytime soon – Sesshoumaru would never take another female to his bed."

This however did nothing to assuage the questioning turmoil in Sango's heart. She was suddenly grabbing Inuyasha and trying to hug the life out of her. At first, the hanyou girl was shocked to the core. She didn't do anything, but let Sango hold her. And then… slowly but surely she began to feel agitated. She didn't like people hugging her. Not when she was male and more so now that she was female. She struggled with Sango's arms and finally managed to hold Sango at arm's length.

"Oi… don't get too sentimental on me Sango!" – she said while turning to look at the two people standing on the left doorstep of the living room.

Miroku looked like he was about to sprout bad words if he could before he seemingly remembered himself and decided that it was okay because Inuyasha was a girl instead of a boy this time around. But the other person next to him was not so easily comforted. Anger radiated through every single pore of his identity. But before he could unleash the angry purifying energy that surged through his being, Inuyasha walked over – after letting Sango fall down on the floor – towards Kagome and said quietly…

"Stop giving me the glare, baka." – Kagome blinked twice and then turned to look at Inuyasha looking a bit bewildered. "You're beginning to annoy me. I'm going to bed." – and before all of them could ever say anything, she left.

°°°°

Early the next morning, Inuyasha sat outside in one of the many gardens that sat near the castle. She wore an exquisite form-fitting red kimono. Her hair had been combed and braided by Rin who – giggling much like the young woman that she was – told her it'd help her feel a lot better about herself if she looked clean and beautiful. Inuyasha wasn't feeling very confident that looking clean and beautiful would make her feel better, but she indulged the young Hime. She was confident now that she had gone truly weak. In her male form, she would've scoffed at Rin's desire to make her look beautiful which would've been the death of her since shortly after that Rin would've cried and Sesshoumaru would've hit her for it.

But now… she sighed. Things were beginning to feel weird. She was sure that it had something more to do with the gender switch. Her body was changing. If before the change, she had been somewhat confident over her skills to defend herself and being able to wield Tetsusaiga… she was not so confident now. The sword responded just the same to her… in fact, now it seemed to sing to her… whereas before it only seemed to demand that she'd take it and defend what was hers. But now it seemed to know her darkest secret… that she was scared. The jyaki that came off from Kouga made her quiver. The ominous presence of her brother calmed her jittered nerves somewhat, but sometimes – like the day before when he had grabbed her by the front of her haori – it made her private parts itch. An itch she would've never ever felt before if she were male.

She recognized it for what it was… in youkai terms she was nowhere near mating age, but in human terms she was more than ready to have a whole brood. So now that she were female… the half of her being – her youki – was confused and it was sending the wrong signals to any male youkai in a 50 mile radius.

So… when her brother had commanded to her that she wear a concealment charm on her neck that would hide her youkai scent to other demons searching for a mate, she had accepted without complaining. His worry made her worry. It wasn't as if they were _that_ close, but now she needed someone to make her feel safe. And of the three males she had met so far since the switch, only Sesshoumaru made her feel safe although it was a bit uncomfortable to know that _he_ knew far more than she did.

Fact was that, though the charm worked – she knew it did 'cause none of the other male youkai that lived near Sesshoumaru's lands had come over and tried to mate her – it was too late for Kouga. The annoying wolf was still hunting her as a future mate and it scared her a lot. At the moment, Sesshoumaru could be found speaking with Sango – again – about the 'protection' thingy. And though they were almost over with the Naraku business, there was no need to not be guarded about this new development.

She flopped back onto the ground and stared at the blue sky. In the short hour span since the evening before when they had arrived Sesshoumaru's castle, she felt more attuned to her new body than before. She knew without a doubt that a female body was much more weaker than a male body, she had lost a lot of muscle in the change. She felt lighter, agility made up for the loss of strength. She had tested her abilities, earlier and found out that she was faster, could creep up on anything because she had stealth, and that she could fly!

That had been a big no-no when she was male… she wondered briefly why she could fly now. Although since she wasn't used to this new means of transportation – she found out quickly that while it didn't take much of her youki to fly – it was tiresome. The next thing she noticed was that her movements were graceful instead of rough and ditzy as she often believed himself to be. These new changes… they were both gratifying and a bit terrifying. When she changed back into himself – what would happen? Could she grow to love this body more than the one she had been born with?

"Konnichi-wa puppy-san" – a deep voice rumbled out from behind her. She moved her eyes towards the voice's source and was surprised to see Kouga with a big wild-flower bouquet in his hands.

She couldn't help her reaction towards him. She blushed. He smiled, although the light in his eyes indicated that he was himself again instead of the evil-minded youkai he had been two days before. She sat up and brushed her hair from the leaves around it while presenting him with her erect back. She then propped herself onto her feet and turned to look at him all the while trying to stop the rapid beating of her heart.

"Here puppy-san. I thought you'd like these." – she was just about to grab them when out of the blue they went flying into the air.

As bits of flowers rained down on them, she turned to look at Kagome who had an altogether unsettling expression on his face. It was a mix of hurt and anger… not anger, more like jealousy. Was Kagome jealous? Of whom? And dared she think of the reason why? She found out that her heart beat a bit faster at the thought of Kagome being jealous. She didn't notice however how strangely familiar was this new turn of events as she zoned out to control the rapid beating of her heart and the blush that threatened to overwhelm her face.

"You keep away from her!" – Kagome stated. He was so angry! The nerve of the wolf prince infuriated him.

It did not matter that he had pledge his heart to him when he was a girl, it didn't matter that he had just begun to realize that Kouga was like him. A teenager who claimed to love every pretty girl he set his eyes on. It suddenly began to occur to him that this was exactly how Inuyasha acted whenever Kouga was near her vicinity. And suddenly he understood that he was as much in fault as Inuyasha for ever letting Kouga treat her as his woman. Though he understood this jealous rage that consumed him, it did not assuage it.

"Puppy-san has not told me that she wants me gone, therefore I am able to court her in any way I wish to do so." – this brought both Kagome and Inuyasha from their current introspection to gawk at the wolf in front of them. However, their reaction was much more similar than either wanted to acknowledge it to be…

"Court her!" – Kagome shouted whilst Inuyasha's tone whispered "Court me!" and it brought Kagome out of his stupor to look down at her. She was blushing. It was endearing and yet annoyingly frustrating so.

"Uh-huh. Puppy-san is available and therefore I will not loose to a human such as yourself. Doesn't matter if you used to be female Kagome-san or that Inuyasha is female now instead of being male. Her scent calls out to me. Something I'm pretty sure that you don't know anything about?" – he looked so smug Kagome wanted to rip the teeth out of his wicked smile.

"I believe Inuyasha-sama has not said anything about mating. In fact, I daresay she's appalled by the idea, don't you believe it so Kagome-san?" – said a voice behind them.

Inuyasha hid her eyes behind her bangs and felt herself quiver again. These new feelings that raged inside of her made her feel so vulnerable. She shook her head trying to clear the haze that seemed to overwhelm her senses into making her want to cry and looked up into Miroku's warm violet eyes. She felt a profound sentiment of gratitude towards him and for the first time in the course of the three days they had been staying at Sesshoumaru's lands, she felt safe with Miroku; even if he was a pervert most of the time.

Her movement took both the ookami prince and Kagome by surprise as well as the perverted monk, when she jumped into his arms and hugged him fiercely while whispering softly…

"Arigatou gozaimasu Miroku-san!" – and even before he had a chance to say anything she let him go and sprinted out of the garden like the seven hounds of hell were trying to bite her in the ass. Miroku found himself with two angry males glaring at him, and yet he could not stop the blush that bloomed from out of nowhere on his face after Inuyasha had hugged him.

°°°°

At night, after finally reaching some kind of truce between them, Kouga and Kagome enlisted Shippou for the next few hours. They told him to spy on Inuyasha whilst she were taking a bath with Sango and Rin at the hot springs inside the castle's grounds.

At first, the kit refused outright. He said that he wouldn't do it. That it might bring him more harm than good and that were it the other way around Kagome-sama wouldn't like to be spied either. However, Shippou's candy weakness overpowered his good intentions and soon he found himself listening to the women chat away while they bath themselves. At first, Shippou found himself looking at Inuyasha's back. Then, whilst it took every bit of his own willpower to stop doing so, he realized two things: 1) Inuyasha wasn't talking at all and 2) she was not even looking at the two other females bathing next to her. It was as if she were embarrassed. Which for a minute or two – it seemed to Shippou that it was inconsequential as she were a woman herself – but then he realized that while Inuyasha's form was female perhaps she was still male inside. It made sense to him and suddenly he felt embarrassed. He was spying on Inuyasha. How rude it was of him to interrupt Inuyasha's private time! And before he could even let himself out, he was plucked from his hiding space by an angry inu-youkai.

Sesshoumaru growled at the teenager. He was invading his mate's and his sister's space and he did not like it one bit. He was about to kill him when Rin – having caught bits and pieces of his raging emotions – grabbed his hand and stopped him from killing the poor kitsune.

"I'll kill him!" – he snarled and was just preparing his poison claws to do so, but he was stopped by his sister.

"No, you will not." – Inuyasha said as she wrapped a fluffy towel around herself while coming closer to them both.

"He was spying on you both!" – Sesshoumaru ground out. His eyes were normal now, but Inuyasha could see that he was still trying to keep a tight rein on his anger instead.

"I'm sure he'll refrain from ever doing it again." – she reasoned with her brother and found to her relief that he believed her.

He sent the kit crashing into the wall and took his leave with Rin at his back. She smiled gratefully to Inuyasha and left quietly behind her mate. Inuyasha – once she felt that the crisis was averted – turned to Shippou and glared. By this time, Sango came into the scene wearing her clothes and she looked angry as hell. She looked at the kit and then nodded towards Inuyasha. The hanyou nodded and left to find her clothes so she'd go back to her room. Needless to say, Shippou wailed out the whole story and both Kagome and Kouga found themselves with two black eyes and a couple of bruises full courtesy of Sango's giant boomerang.


	4. Chapter 3

Three.

"How could you do that!" – she raged at him.

"I let my feelings get the better of me Sango-chan… and I'm deeply sorry." – Kagome felt like the biggest baka. He had insulted, sat him one too many times and being really angry at Inuyasha whenever he had managed to sneak up on her while she were bathing on any lake near their camp. And now, he had done what she had sworn he would never do if he ever were male, as he was now.

"Your feelings!" – Sango exhaled trying to get her emotions under control, but found that she could not keep it together. "Kagome-san, you are my friend! And I care for you very much, but Inuyasha-sama is no longer a boy. And I'm sure she is very confused as to what are her current feelings! So don't make it harder to her than it already is. I'm sure this is hard for you too, but for Inuyasha they are much worst. Houshi-sama told me of what happened yesterday morning and he was concerned with your behavior towards her. For Inuyasha to actually _hug_ Miroku, she must have felt truly uncomfortable with the situation! Onegai! Cease these childish games!"

Once the lecture was over, Sango left his presence and turned to go in the direction where she was sure Miroku was standing. He swore to himself then that he would stop being an idiot and try to look less threatening towards Inuyasha. If only to keep her from choosing Kouga instead.

"Konnichi-wa Kagome." – he swiveled and was astounded to see her leaning on the door's entrance looking like she had been there for awhile.

"Ah.. konnichi-wa Inuyasha-sama." – he bowed to her and that brought a raised eyebrow from her. It seemed she was back to her own self.

"What's with the 'sama' Kagome? I thought we were… friends" – she ended it with a shy note as if she were suddenly unsure of their 'friends' status. Kagome suddenly felt bad for assuming that things would go back to normal. Things were most definitely _not_ going back to normal.

"Yes… actually we are friends. Gomen nasai for yesterday's fight with Kouga and Shippou's spying on you." – she laughed and in doing so, Kagome felt himself blush.

"I don't care much for the fight that happened yesterday's afternoon. But I would've been terribly sad to see Shippou die just because you both told him to spy on us." – Kagome's blush deepened. He tried to stammer out a response but stopped abruptly as he saw that behind Inuyasha's sudden appearance, her brother was standing on the doorway.

He blushed deeply, because Sesshoumaru was not threatening to come over and kill him. He was just supervising the scene from afar. He didn't interrupt, didn't make a move, didn't even seem to acknowledge them at all making Kagome feel that this was some sort of test. What kind of test it was? He wasn't sure. But he intended to make the best of the situation.

"Is there anything wrong?" – Inuyasha asked.

"Uh… I think…" – he found himself groveling for words inside his blank-out mind. There was something definitely wrong in his synapses because he was moving his mouth and no words came out. He saw her looking at him worried and he slumped.

"Are you ok?" – after receiving a nod from him, she went on: "I thought that since there is nothing my brother can do for us at the moment, maybe we should go back to the village. I mean, maybe Kaede-baba knows something about this."

"Are you sure you are up to the trip?" – he asked finally able to draw words out of his brain and in a normal voice.

"What do you mean 'Up to the trip'? Why wouldn't I be?" – her brows furrowed and she looked like she was confused but the edge in her voice told him he'd better tread light footsteps on this, 'cause if he said the wrong thing, Inuyasha was sure to hit him with her anger.

"I… I meant that perhaps because of the change you'd be…" – he was stopped from saying anything else by Shippou who came running waving his arms like a lunatic.

"STOP!" – and stood there for a minute as if he were trying to calm his racing heart and gain his breath back.

"What is it Shippou?" – Inuyasha asked concerned. Since she was still a bit taller than Shippou, she knelt by his side and looked at him worriedly.

"I was told by Sango that you should go over towards her… something about leaving…?" – he said in one rushed sentence and then exhaled.

Inhaled once. Blushed deeply when he realized that he was very close to Inuyasha. Stood up quickly before something bad happened… like Kagome – as unlikely as it sounded – thumping him in the head.

"Oh.. 'k. I'll go. Where did she say that she wanted to see me?"

"In the lobby… I think…?" – she shook her head at him and Shippou blushed again.

When Inuyasha disappeared, so did Sesshoumaru; leaving Kagome and Shippou alone in the garden.

"You owe me." – he said.

"For what?" – he grouched. Something that seemed so unlike the Kagome that Shippou was used to know, but due to the new developments Shippou could forgive the miko for the irrational behavior.

"I could've let you be beaten by Inuyasha on your own. I mean… if it were the other way around, I wouldn't do anything to help Inuyasha if _he _were caught in the same situation. However, Inuyasha as a she is far more insecure than when she was male. So… you have to ask YOURSELF Kagome-neechan, if you could have battled with Inuyasha when she unleashed either her anger or her tears?" – then he turned and walked away before Kagome could answer.

And as he looked on to the shifting scenery, he thought of what Shippou had wisely stated. Because, if he were to be true to himself; Shippou was right. Inuyasha felt insecure of herself. She was in a different body, with different hormones raging thru her and invading her sensibilities. And he groaned because in the confusing rage of his own changes he had forgotten what it felt like to be a girl. He wished there could be some answers soon, otherwise, he'd turn into someone he didn't want to be. A jerk.

°°°°

It was not until the other day came that Rin waved the travelers goodbye. She was glad that they had decided to return to their village, as traveling in search of their nemesis was clearly not a good idea due to their current predicament. Her mate, the Great Lord of the Western Lands had agreed to guide them back until the edges of the border, securing them from any strong demons that could cause them trouble. She knew it was because he feared something happening to his sibling, more than the sense of propriety that came with making sure his guests were taken care of even when they were leaving.

She hoped that this new development, although not permanent; would make everything better between the siblings. She knew it was a bit underhanded of her to say that poor young _and_ helpless Inuyasha was surrounded by three males and just one female. And that since the Musashi district was more or less close to the border of his lands, it'd be best if he escorted them to the outer rims of his lands. And it was quick, the result was so quick that if she hadn't said anything herself, she would've missed the possessive glint that appeared in his eyes. He would not let _any_ man touch his sibling. No matter what.

She turned away as soon as they departed and sighed. She wished for her mate's safety and patience and at last for the hanyou girl's safety.

°°°°

Kagome didn't say anything when he found out from Sango's whispered concern that – as the evening grew on them – tonight was the night of the new moon. He was just giddy. And at first he wondered why. After traveling for six days with the Demon Lord, they had finally reached the Musashi district and now were well on their way to the village. Sesshoumaru had accompanied them as far as he deemed it worth it and then he turned away from them and left. He didn't say goodbye. Didn't say anything to his sibling, only turned and walked away. Sango was grumpy after that. She kept muttering about insensible demons that didn't cared enough, but he found Inuyasha smiling more.

And then, whilst they were walking he found that Shippou walked closer to Inuyasha than he did with him. And for a minute it made him slightly uncomfortable. It was when Sango made the statement that it was the night of the new moon that he understood the reason as to why Shippou would try and protect _her_.

At night, when they finally found a place to settle – a place that was close to their village, Kagome saw the miraculous change that overcame Inuyasha every new moon. And felt himself feeling extremely weird. For if Inuyasha as a female hanyou was something incredibly attractive, as a female human, Inuyasha was spectacular. And he had to put a certain distance between them, because he was beginning to feel a little too _uncomfortable. _If he wanted to not turn into a true jerk, he'd have to stay a few feet away. Thankfully once morning came over and they were walking back into the village, he felt better.


	5. Chapter 4

Four

Stupid Kaede. – Kagome thought as he made his way towards the well. He had to go back and explain to his mother of everything that was going on. And there wasn't a cure as to how to reverse this. He wished the old miko had the answers to their problem. He really didn't like this body and all he wanted to do was cry. But he was no sissy and he would not succumb to tears. He was just about to jump into the well, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He looked back and found golden honeyed eyes looking back at him in concern.

"Are you okay?" – the beautiful hanyou asked him and he grouched.

"No. I'm not okay! We are stuck like this for as long as kami knows how long and you don't even seem to be the least worried about this!" – he ranted at her.

Waited for the insults and the shouts of being a stupid bakayarou, but found none. It seemed Inuyasha wasn't as comfortable with her new body as it seemed to be. In fact, she looked like she was closed to tears. Correction. She was already in tears. She had again forgotten that Inuyasha was not her own conceited righteous male self as before.

"Shh. Inuyasha please don't cry… I'm SORRY!" – he softened his tone a little bit and wondered why this felt so familiar.

And then it came to him: about three weeks ago they had fought and him – jealous person that he was – sat the hanyou even though Inuyasha had been trying to explain to him why he had gone to Kikyo.

He felt like the biggest baka on Earth. How could he had been so insensitive, so jealous of a dead miko that he had not even stopped to listen to the hanyou's apologies. And now he had truly done it. He'd made Inuyasha cry. Something that had been truly impossible to do when the hanyou was male, but now…

He looked down at her and found that her tears had not abated. In fact she was trembling so much, he was afraid that he had truly scared her off forever. Inuyasha would never ever love him, if she ever did at some point.

He knelt before her – for the change had made him three inches taller than her – and took one of her hands into his, found that the nails were more girlish than before and that her tears had wavered a bit, but not too much. He wanted to comfort her, but found he couldn't say the words. Shippou – who had just arrived at the scene – was about to announce that Inuyasha was scared. He noticed that neither had even acknowledged or sensed him coming after them. Yet, he stopped. Because when Kagome had knelt in supplication, the dog demon part of Inuyasha understood that he meant her no harm.

He took a step forward, quietly as the hanyou sat down beside the miko and embraced Kagome. It was the first time that he had seen such emotions cross between them and realized that maybe this wasn't a curse after all. Maybe it was a way for them to know the limitations of their own gender… to understand each other better. And he smiled for the first time. A true smile crossed his face, if they got together… Kagome and Inuyasha would adopt him as their son. Then his face flushed when he smelled someone else… not Kouga… but it was a wolf.

"Hey hanyou!" – the red hair should've brought him out of his stupor and realize that this was no other than Ayame… hime of the Eastern Lands. Yet all he could think was that he'd better run into the scene before something that shouldn't happen did. Inuyasha stiffened. She raised her head from the crook of Kagome's neck and pierced her golden eyes at the she-wolf.

"Yeah?" – she may have sounded like her own self, but Kagome was aware that she was not as calm as she had been when they had embraced.

He stood up not knowing what to do but decided that he would do whatever was in his power and beyond to keep Inuyasha save.

"I'm looking for Lord Kouga, Prince of the Northern Lands. Is there by any chance some human girl around?"

Kagome never took his eyes away from danger, except that this time he realized that the she-wolf was no other than Ayame.

°°°°

"So you're telling me that human girl left?" – Ayame was incredulous, but there was something that they were obviously hiding from her.

Judging by the way the human boy was dressed, she could guess that he came from the same village the human girl called Kagome that Kouga was so obsessed with. There was also something wrong with the hanyou called Inuyasha. He seemed fragile, a little too thin and his eyes were not menancing but troubled. And… his scent seemed to have changed making it… sweeter? Dare she say?

"Uh-huh. In fact she said she wouldn't be coming back until next summer." – said Shippou who at once knew that should Inuyasha open her mouth again, all would be lost. And not only they'd have to worry about Kouga following them to claim the hanyou as her mate, but Ayame – who was used to her female body and thus was quicker and stronger in her form without the use of the jewel shards as Kouga had done before – would attempt to fight her and the fight could end up with serious and disastrous results.

Ayame grumbled. She sat unceremoniously on the ground and stopped to think as her intended never did – although he claimed he was NOT her intended – because he always lept into the fight without thinking of the possible outcomes and however rash Inuyasha's fighting style was he always thought of the outcome before attacking. Then she sat up just as there was a strong wind indicating the entrance of another demon. Kouga.

°°°°

She was so happy that he had come, but since the girl was not around; she couldn't help but feel that something else was going on.. something that she was unaware of. And she never liked to be taken unawares. And Kouga didn't even noticed her. Just went up to Inuyasha and handed her the kill of the day – having already provided for his clan and all – decided that Inuyasha would need some nourishment and that if he were to prove himself worthy of being his mate, then he would.

On the other hand, there were Shippou and Kagome who looked on the scene with concern and outright rage at Kouga's intermission. However Shippou's – as he often was – concern was centered not on the oncoming spat between Kagome and Kouga, but more of Ayame's reaction to Inuyasha's situation. But like with things that you don't know the outcome… it's best to not interfere with fate.


	6. Chapter 5

Five

"Inuyasha's _what_!" – Ayame yelled. Which in itself was totally out of character for her because she usually was composed and she had learnt that yelling was totally un-ladylike. Something that while she was still learning to be, she didn't like to yell all that much.

Shippou tried to calm her down by shushing her... but found he could not control both situations at once. Ayame may have been sitting on the ground, but he knew she was fast and also knew that if Kouga made an attempt at touching Inuyasha, the hanyou would be defenseless as Kouga would find himself occupied with Kagome's rage.

He sighed. Was about to run back to the village, but decided to stay in case…

"Wolves." – said a distinctly but nonetheless toneless voice.

Ayame stood up in a minute recognizing Sesshoumaru's voice at once meanwhile Kouga as brash as he always was – and probably would always be – ignored him in favor of reaching over to touch Inuyasha's arm.

And then a series of moments happened at once.

Sesshoumaru flung Kouga aside from Inuyasha, Shippou quickly put himself closer to Kagome – instead of Inuyasha – knowing that the Lord of the Western Lands had not forgotten the spying incident, and Ayame ran up to Kouga to check if he was alright. Everyone stood still in their current locations and awaited with tremulous breath to see what the Lord of the Western Lands decided to do.

"Now that I have your attention…" – he turned to Kagome and commanded: "You are not going to come near Inuyasha until mating season is over. And _you_ if you forget your true mate again then you'll have to drop your title n' your pack!" – then he grabbed Inuyasha's arm and hugged her to him.

They left in the wink of an eye and Ayame crashed back onto the ground not knowing what to say. Silence reigned.

°°°°

Kagome went back to his time and found himself accosted by his mother constant mothering and had to buy new pants and new shirts and new – here he shivered internally – underwear. Souta had become a pain in the ass – more so now because he knew things that Kagome had only gotten to learn just barely out of necessity lately.

After awhile, he felt at ease because after finishing his studies and assignments he began to learn some self – defense techniques. His mother had insisted that he had no excuse now and that since Inuyasha was not coming for him anytime soon, he had plenty of time to kill.

Of course, going to school was out of the question. He couldn't pretend more than the thought of wearing a skirt while he was male made his insides turn. He had to tie his long hair into a ponytail as he really didn't want to cut off his hair if there was always a tiny bit of a chance to change back into being a she, he wouldn't like the fact that he'd have to grow it back.

Nevertheless there were things that he didn't like about this body. Erotic dreams of Inuyasha had been sort of okay to deal with when he was a she. But now… she would wake up with an erection! Something that while he thought it wasn't really that great for a guy to have – he understood its function and everything else – he hadn't known that it would hurt or how messy it could be.

One thing was nice about it though… he didn't have to worry about being attracted to other girls. For this he was grateful although he had the idea that had Inuyasha's sibling known this he wouldn't have agreed to it. He had the idea that after this, Sesshoumaru wouldn't allow his sibling to mate anyone he didn't considered worthy.

He gnawed the pencil with his teeth in thought. Would Sesshoumaru be a bastard if Inuyasha returned to normal? He didn't think it was possible. He sighed. He wished there was some way to know about Inuyasha. He missed her. A lot. He decided then that he would buy stuff Inuyasha had liked and when he was able to go back, he would be courteous and nice so he could make up for the time he had been mean to her both as he were now and before the change.

°°°°

Four freaking months had gone by and still Sesshoumaru would not her leave the castle. Four freaking months of learning to be a lady – as if she were going to stay like this forever – and training her mind and body to become stronger. It wasn't as if she hated the attention, but she wanted air!

She needed to run thru the forest and feel a bit more like herself. But anytime she looked at the window with longing in her eyes, her brother would growl in anger and tell her most definitely that she wasn't allowed out. She was beginning to think that Sesshoumaru was never going to let her out of the castle. Ever. She began to whimper in distress.

She didn't notice that Rin was coming up to her with a question when tears began to run thru her cheeks. And it was then that her sister in law decided to have a little chat with her mate.

°°°°

"What is it?" – he asked without raising his eyes from the document he was reading.

"How much longer until mating season is over?" – said Rin while she shut the door tight.

"Mating season was over two months ago." – he said without ever raising his head and continued to read on.

Silence followed the sentence and it made him raise his head to see his lovely mate looking at him with a curious expression he had never known her to make before.

"And yet you have kept her here for two months without nary a thought of letting her go…" – there was a brief feeling that Rin was going to rant at him and he squashed it quickly because Rin did not rant. It was all for nothing though because Rin – his mate – did not rant at him. She screamed at him: "DID YOU NOT THINK THAT SHE NEEDS TO GO BACK TO HER FRIENDS! How could you be so insensitive! She was crying when I saw her a few minutes ago, Sesshoumaru! You told me that Inuyasha has never cried. And she was crying because you won't let her leave the castle!"

"Inuyasha is staying here." – his word was law. And not even Rin – his mate – was going to question it.

"You told her that she would be able to go back to her normal life once mating season was over and yet you have not released her when it was over! You will let her go!" – she yelled at him and he had to stand up.

"Inuyasha is staying here. Nothing is normal anymore. She might never be able to change back into being a male and then what? Do I let an insignificant human – a miko no less – impregnate her? No. She is not birthing any more half – breeds. That human is not worthy of her. After all, if he trusted Inuyasha, then why has he not released her from the rosary charm?" – Rin was stumped for a second and then she said softly…

"Is it the royal blood you don't want to thin anymore? Is that it? You don't want half – breeds and yet I'm sure you're so glad I can't breed you children. Don't make her life miserable just because you think Kagome is not worthy of Inuyasha." – with that she turned away from him and left the room.

Sesshoumaru scowled in frustration. When had Rin been this rude to him? In all his life, he had never meant to keep his sibling by his side. Mating season had come and gone bringing some harsh realities to the fore. He had mated Rin in the traditional inu-youkai way so that she may never leave him, so that she may grow old as he did and not die before he was willing to let her go. He had also felt deeply connected to the human in a way he had never been with any other yashas in his life.

He had given her the prize of being chosen by him, something that no human female would have been granted and she chose now to insult him like that. How ungrateful.

He sighed.

It was sad to know when mating season started that Rin did not smell like Inuyasha did. Alluring. For she had to smell like that if Rin were in heat. Sure she went thru those bouts of bleeding thru her legs, but she could not have kids. The healers had been confirmed in this when mating season came about and she did not smelled like other females did. And while Rin was attached to him, to his soul and his lifeline, he was not attached to her.

Was it any wonder that the only scent that called out to him to mate had been his sibling? He cared a lot for Rin. He couldn't say that he loved her because alas he did not know what love was. But now he knew that Rin wasn't his soul-mate, for as soon as he reconciled with himself about the hatred he used to feel for his sibling, he knew then that he had to have her. One way or the other, he had to have His Inuyasha.

°°°°

Rin made her way over to the gardens not knowing if her heart was breaking or shattering at what her mate had said. She felt so wretched that she didn't know if she could handle seeing him again before she got her feelings and emotions under control. When she turned the corner, she found Inuyasha sitting in a chair combing her hair. This would have been a natural thing for a woman who was waiting for someone to appear to do. But Rin had begun to see that Inuyasha in those four months that she had been staying inside the castle, she had changed. Seemingly aware of the fact that she might never be back to her normal self.

What would happen next? Would she leave Sesshoumaru? Rin sighed. She knew that if she left her lord, she might never be able to be fully alive. No man could replace him in her heart and she knew that others who had seen her would never take the mate of a demon. She would never be allowed to have a normal life. Why did things who seemed so good changed when she least expected it.

"Rin?" – she turned to Inuyasha and nodded.

"Is there something wrong?" – she shook her head. She didn't want to burden her sister in law with her problems.

"Did you argue with Sesshoumaru about… me?" – when those golden eyes turned to her, she could not help the reaction that came from seeing so much guarded grief staining those eyes.

"We had an argument and we disagreed. He seems not to want to let you leave the castle. You're no longer in heat Inuyasha." – she expected the hanyou girl to shout and scream but was surprised to see a calm in her demeanor.

"I'm not surprised. Did this cause some sort of argument between you two?" "Please tell me it did not. It would hurt me more to know this might pose some problems for you."

"Iie. We have problems like any other couple. It's just that I don't understand why he won't let you go. I don't understand his line of thinking. I thought he had accepted you because of your blood, and now…" – here she began sobbing because she could not contain her feelings much longer: "He says Kagome is not worthy of you and that he'd rather have you here and never mate at all than for you to give birth to half-breeds again."

"Should this be news to me? Sesshoumaru never wanted me to have children. And I never intend to. Despite the fact that I'm now seemingly fertile because I'm a female hanyou, it doesn't mean that should I ever change back into my usual form, that I would be able to breed with a human." – she turned to Rin and went on: "I would never put anyone thru the problem of surviving in a world of injustice to all hanyous. However… I think that this is not the source of the problem is it?"

"No. It's not. I'm not fertile. I am barren and Sesshoumaru just confirmed my belief that he never wanted children from me." – she then laid her head on top of the hanyou's shoulder and let the hanyou comfort her.

They did not notice that Sesshoumaru had been watching them together for awhile.


	7. Chapter 6

**Six**

Kagome slung his backpack over the rim of the old well. Then he threw two other big packs and at last his bicycle. He climbed over the well and was not surprised to see Miroku awaiting for him at the shade of a great big tree. He offered no help though and this did made him a bit mad though he quickly squelch it because he knew that now that he were male he didn't really need help.

Although… Miroku should've asked anyway. He sighed. He really wished that once he had climbed over the rim of the bone eater's well, Inuyasha would've been back. But no such luck. Even if she had been around, he had a feeling he would have seen her coming into his house rather than just waiting at the other side of the well.

"No news?" – he asked once Miroku fell into step with him.

"No. Although Shippou left with Kirara a few days ago to see what was going on. There are some good news though… there has been news of Naraku and his whereabouts. We were waiting for you to show up so we could go and take a look."

Kagome turned his head to see the monk and then said…

"I see. I guess that if we wait to receive news about Inuyasha, we won't be able to do anything would we? We can't be idle, can we?"

"No. We can't. It is a shame that things have changed this way. But we can't wait until things change back to the way they were."

Kagome nodded.

°°°°

Inuyasha knocked boldly on the heavy wooden door of Sesshoumaru's studio. She needed to speak with him. She needed to repair things between her brother and his mate before she left. She couldn't stay here forever – this she knew with all her heart – and risk the chance of letting Naraku take over the whole Shikon no Tama jewel.

"Come in." – Sesshoumaru said.

Once she had closed the door behind her, she walked over to the seats in front of the massive oak desk and sat until her brother acknowledge her presence.

Sesshoumaru knew that the teachers had made an enormous progress with the hanyou and there was really no other underlying reason as to why he should keep her here. So he looked up and was aware that Inuyasha – his sometimes brute and uncouth little brother – knew that those truths about not wanting Inuyasha to have brats. That was something he had reiterated quite often to his sibling. So those weren't news to both of them. Only Rin had thought that he had accepted Inuyasha because he had protected his sibling from the men around the castle and of those that accompanied her.

"You're free to go." – he said knowing that heat for Inuyasha wouldn't come until next year.

"Feh. I knew that. I was just wondering what's going to happen to you and Rin when I leave the castle tomorrow morning?"

"It is none of your business Inuyasha. I hope that you learned enough to be able to take care of yourself, and if you should stay this way for the rest of your life, I am sure that you will come to this castle when you go into heat." – that wasn't a question though, it was an order.

Inuyasha nodded and briefly wondered if she could fix things between her brother and his mate.

"Is Rin your mate or your concubine Sesshoumaru?" – she asked.

He sighed in return.

"Rin is unique, so no. She's not my concubine. As to being my mate, I don't know. I haven't decided yet."

"Do you cherish her?" – she asked not looking at him really.

"Love her you mean? I know nothing of love."

"I didn't say love. Gods Sesshoumaru! It's not like I don't know that you can love, I'm aware that love is an emotion you're too closed off to feel let alone experience. Do you cherish her?"

"I cherish her."

"Well then… work things out with her. And I guess that if you really need an heir and I'm still like this after all of this is done, well I would let you take me to give you your heir."

She left Sesshoumaru looking a bit surprised at her speech wondering why his little sister seemed so wise all of the sudden and why in the hell did she seemed so ready to give him the heir he so wanted.

°°°°

They had been traveling for two weeks when they finally encountered Inuyasha lounging in a tree with Shippou and Kirara. At first, Kagome had been a bit upset that they had decided for them to wait to get them instead of the other way around, but he stave off the need to vent his anger and frustrations by sitting the hanyou and instead he asked the dreaded question that was in everyone's mind at the moment.

"Why didn't you come for me?" – and he was surprised when he saw the hanyou was a bit sad at answering him with a…

"I was indisposed Kagome. It's not like I had ever gone thru mating season before."

Kagome just nodded. He really didn't know what he had been expecting when he asked that question. Loaded questions with Inuyasha always sparkled different answers and different emotions. This time Kagome wondered if Inuyasha would say anything else, but then realized that he was the only one staring at Inuyasha. He shook his head to clear it and remembered the other two backpacks that he had brought along for her.

"Let's settle here for lunch, is that okay with you Inuyasha?" – Sango asked and Inuyasha nodded at her once.

Whilst Miroku and Shippou went fishing and Sango went to pick up wood for the fire, Kagome walked up to Inuyasha and hugged her to him saying "I miss you" having been unable to do so when he had first seen her and because they had had too many eyes around them for him to feel comfortable doing it.

She stiffened.

Did she not like having his arms around her? No. That couldn't be it, she had not pushed him away. What could it be then? He found out about it quickly after her stiffening.

"Come on out! I know you're there!" – said Inuyasha all the while wiggling a bit to disentangle herself from Kagome's arms.

He blushed. That wiggling of hers had managed to somewhat arouse him. He turned his head away from her in a heartfelt wish to make the uncomfortable arousal subside and quickly lest he found himself humiliated or in pain. The person in question turned out to be a youkai with blue markings on his face like Sesshoumaru's. He had blond hair and blue eyes that seemed to sear with uncontained passion. Who was he and why did his look upon Inuyasha made Kagome so uncomfortable? He was soon about to find out.

"Greetings my princess. I wish to say you look as lovely as always." – he bowed courteously and this had Kagome upset. He began to see a pattern here. On the other hand, Inuyasha seemed to be somewhat oblivious to his reaction and more interested in this new person who called her a princess.

They learned he was a youkai lord of the south-western lands and though not a taiyoukai, he was very powerful indeed. Inuyasha went on continuing to admire him even though she had finally recognized him as the one who called her his prince when she was a he not caring if she were or weren't a full blooded youkai. Reminiscing about the times when he taught her how to fight well with his bare hands that she thought it nice to find him now of all times. She wondered if maybe he'd join them in their quest to finish off Naraku and hoped that she would be able to ask him this in private.

At the moment she was still a bit tired and was surprised when the tall youkai lord asked if she wanted to rest a little since it was getting dark by the minute.

°°°°

Kagome wasn't surprised to find how inevitably angry and jealous he felt whenever the tall youkai lord would do something gentle for Inuyasha. The time Inuyasha had spent in her brother's castle hadn't been just to laze around. He could see that Inuyasha had gained some much needed control over her emotions and had attained a level of mastery over the use of Tetsusaiga and her claws. For that matter Kagome could forgive Sesshoumaru for keeping his sibling away from him. But other than that he found himself staring at Inuyasha hours on end in surprise how much more composed she behaved, how she no longer ate as if she were starving. How she went for baths more frequently than before and how she tried to not spray blood on her clothes and how every other day she would change her clothes to wear something else.

It appeared as if Sesshoumaru had provided Inuyasha with new clothes. Although if they found their way back to normal, would Inuyasha have to return those clothes or would she be able to wear them as a male as well? It was just a too confusing thought and Kagome instantly let it go in favor of glaring at the tall youkai lord that came from the south - western lands. When Inuyasha was not looking at them, he saw that the youkai lord just smirked evilly at him. This infuriated him so much that he stewed over it for most of the day.

It wasn't until it was nightfall that the first sight of trouble started. And it did not come from the youkai lord, but it was he who reacted first at the scent of death. This made Kagome stiffen for he did not know what to expect from Kikyou. The Shini-dama-chuu danced around their master signaling that Kikyou was coming to see them directly and was not going to wait for Inuyasha to go find her first. They expected her to come out soon and were surprised to see not the woman with the deadly white skin and the soft features that signaled her as a female but more as a deathly pale double of Kagome. A man.

°°°°

"What is the meaning of this!?" – Joshua exclaimed as he took in the similarities between the young human guy Kagome and the deathly pale man that stood before them wearing what appeared to be ceremonial miko clothes a red hakama and a white kimono jacket.

"Stand down Joshua. I will handle this." – Inuyasha exclaimed softly and came to stand just in front of Kikyou.

Kagome was surprised to see that Kikyou was also male now and he jealously began to wonder if Inuyasha would like this as well. But was surprised when he saw that Kikyou had tried to slap Inuyasha and she had stopped him. He wanted so badly to hit him… but was shocked when Inuyasha said…

"What brings you here Kikyou?" – her voice was quiet but was not too soft to indicate weakness.

"You have done something again to mess with time and space Inuyasha. I am not male." – he said and his tone of voice lacked the venom it usually proclaimed whenever they spoke to each other.

"Neither are you alive! Inuyasha no hime please allow me to remove this corpse from your eyes."

Kagome found himself rolling his eyes at that knowing that the phrase was just bordering too much on cutesy. And when he looked over at Inuyasha he found himself covering his mouth with his hand because he suddenly felt like giggling. But when he looked at Kikyou's fuddled expression, he burst out laughing.

"Ne Kikyou-sama?" – came a voice from behind him and found himself to be looking at Miroku. Kikyou turned to Miroku and nodded as if saying he was willing to listen to a fellow monk.

"I Don't think Inuyasha did this on purpose. In fact, I daresay that if anything this was a spell done to Inuyasha and Kagome. We have not been able to discover how to reverse it, but if I were you; I wouldn't dare to touch Inuyasha at all." – and the last sentence though it was said in a lower tone of voice indicated that Kikyou might loose more than the few souls he had in his grasp if he dared to do otherwise.

°°°°

Night found them once again in a strange assortment of people. Two full demons, one neko-mata, one demon slayer, one monk, two mikos and a hanyou all joined together around a fire build for the sole purpose to ward off the icy wind of the night. All was quiet around the fire, no one dared to cease the stillness around them for fear of breaking the seeming peace that surrounded them. Each dwelled into their own thoughts, each wondering what to do next.

Kikyou looked over at his reincarnation and then looked out over to Inuyasha and decided that enough was enough. He and Inuyasha had been friends for awhile. They had spoken of Naraku's treachery and had decided that they could be friends. That though they had thought they were in love with each other, they hadn't been able to surpass the idea of trusting each other and that's why they fell victims to Naraku. But apparently, though Inuyasha did love Kagome and viceversa; Kagome didn't trust Inuyasha. And this could be their downfall as well, he could see it. The question was, could they?

Only one way to find out…

Kagome looked over as Kikyou stood and stood as well when Kikyou looked into his eyes indicating that he wanted to see him alone. Kagome didn't fear Kikyou anymore, after all; he had learnt how to defend himself from those that would harm him and he wouldn't fear the undead. Especially not Kikyou.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?" – he crossed his arms and stood there waiting to see what the dead man in front of him would say.

"You don't seem to trust Inuyasha." – Kikyou said. This shocked Kagome for he thought that he did trust Inuyasha, but a nagging thought began to build in his mind of all the times he had used the subjugation beads to get his way. His heart began to fill with guilt.

"I _do_ trust Inuyasha! It was you who didn't trust Inuyasha!" – but he found that the hateful jab didn't do what he wanted it to do, Kikyou just shook his head and went on talking.

"You don't seem to want to trust Inuyasha. I can tell because not only are you jealous of the demon you travel with, but also you have been upset ever since I stepped into the clearing. You think that everytime I come, Inuyasha is pledging his-her love for me?! We long have reconciled our mistakes and have decided to stay friends and I no longer wish to take Inuyasha with me to hell… for if I get my revenge against Naraku; then my spirit would not go to hell but go to heaven."

"Tch. You expect me to believe that all this time Inuyasha goes to you, you only behave as friends?"

"You evidently trust Inuyasha with your life, but not with your heart. There's so much jealousy in your heart Kagome that should Naraku decide to take advantage of this situation, you would decidedly failed and all would be lost." – and with that he turned away as if to walk away but at the last minute he said: "The only way to prove to me that I'm wrong is for you to take the Nenju beads off of Inuyasha's neck. But remember only if you really love Inuyasha you will be able to dissolve the spell that holds the beads together. If you do it just to prove me wrong but you don't feel anything as such, they won't let loose and the nenju will stay there forever."

With that he disappeared into the forest and with him the Shini-dama-chuu leaving Kagome to ponder about the things he had said to him.

°°°°

When Kagome reached camp, he found Inuyasha standing over where he had left his backpacks. The others were already resting and the tall demon lord was nowhere to be found. He had thought things over and had decided that Kikyou was right. Half of the things Inuyasha had done was out of spite because it was… because he obviously sensed that Kagome did not trust him. And he acted like it didn't matter to him, but the truth of the matter was that if Kagome didn't trust him; then why should he trust her? Given that answer Kagome realized that the only way to clear up the air between them, was to talk without barriers and sarcastic remarks. He knelt to pick up the one pack and touched Inuyasha's shoulder softly.

"Finish talking to Kikyou?" – she said turning to him and the expressionless face caused some alarm in Kagome's heart, but she waved it away and said…

"Yes. He forced me to rethink somethings that were a bit confusing to me. I wish to speak to you in private."

"We are alone so to speak, so talk. What is it that you want to say?"

He was stumped. This cold attitude of Inuyasha's was normal, but for a second there he had wanted some warmth to seep thru her voice.

"Talk now or you'll be wasting your free time with me, 'cause Joshua went to the nearest village to get me something to eat. At least that's what he said… mou, I don't know what to make of his appearance after not seeing him for so long." – to this she looked pensive and Kagome was struck by the fact that she hid a lot from them, even from himself.

"Uh… I meant to do something before I forget." – and with that he came up to him and tugged on the prayer beads.

Feeling the love he knew he felt for the hanyou made the subjugation's spell disappear and in turn it made the beads fall apart. Then he took a step back and watched as Inuyasha fingered her throat for the absence of the beads.

"Is this what you spoke of with Kikyou?" – she asked, her voice surprisingly even, even if it was a bit soft.

"Partly. He brought afore some things that have been an issue for me. I… I trust you Inuyasha. I trust you more than anyone else I have met and I…"


	8. Chapter 7

**Seven**

He was slightly upset that he never got the time to express his feelings to his hanyou. But then Myouga came into the scene, followed by Joshua bringing some sweets for Inuyasha and even then they did not get more time alone. There was one good thing about the interruption though. Inuyasha was agreeable now, and she smiled at him more. He finally managed to give her the stuff he had brought back from the future and found that she liked it as much as he had hoped.

They were currently making their way back to the village to restock – although Joshua had complained about that saying that he could buy them more food and that he could hunt some game if they didn't encounter a village for awhile, Inuyasha had said that they needed to rest for awhile.

They were about two days away from the village when he sensed two jewel shards coming up their way. At first he had thought that it was another demon that they had to fight, but then when a small tornado became visible as it came closer, he fumed inwardly remembering Kouga's claim and wondered how this would turn out now that they had Joshua here. Would he rise to the bait and fight Kouga or would he ignore him completely? He found that he himself didn't mind the fact that even if Kouga came about and courted Inuyasha because he felt like he could trust Inuyasha with his heart. True, they had not spoken of their feelings yet, but Inuyasha had not deceived him by going behind his back to embrace Joshua although he did feel a bit curious why she had not been wary of him. It seemed that she had met Joshua a long time before. More so than when she had met Kikyou.

Kouga entered the clearing with a swagger in his step as he slowed down in front of Inuyasha. He found out to his surprise that Inuyasha let Kouga take her hand into his without looking as though this turn of events should affect her that much. He was even more surprised to see that Joshua didn't react as he thought he would. He looked mildly chagrined but further than that, he didn't look as if he wanted to snap Kouga's neck much like he wanted to do. He wondered briefly if he could snap a nenju chain on Kouga's neck and he laughed at the whole sordid images that appeared at the thought of that. He waved away the concerned looks Sango and Miroku threw at him when his laughter reached their ears.

"Inuyasha I want to take you home with me once this quest is finished. You will be my mate." – having said this he stoop down to lean on one of his two knees as if asking for holy matrimony from the hanyou girl that stood in front of him.

Still Inuyasha said nothing and she did not look down. Kouga began to feel nervous. He looked up to Inuyasha's face and found nothing but cold detachment in her eyes. He looked deeper and found that whilst her youki was not interacting with anyone at the moment, he could see it and still she was calm. This made him really worried.

"We need to talk." – and then she slipped her hand away from his hands and turned around. Kagome was suddenly worried for Kouga. He didn't think he'd want the wolf dead, but what else would Inuyasha need to speak of with the wolf that would need privacy?

°°°°

When Inuyasha returned, Sango approached Inuyasha and asked her what had happened to Kouga.

"Nothing." – she said and with that turned to look at the sky as she wondered pensively what would happen next.

°°°°

Kouga walked back the whole way to the northern mountain range. He had given up the two jewel shards to Inuyasha in an attempt to show the hanyou that he were serious of his affections for her, but she had undoubtedly crushed him with words spoken with no anger or any other emotion shown in her voice. Something he was sure, Sesshoumaru had taught Inuyasha and this he didn't like.

Flashback

_They were at least a few ways away from where the others had made camp and this assuaged Kouga a bit for he knew that whatever Inuyasha was about to say was serious and at the same time she wanted to spare him the feeling of embarrassment of having to face the others should things not go the way he expected them to._

"_I think here's good enough." – she said as she plopped gracefully down on the dewy grass and sat down._

_He sat down in front of her and awaited what she was about to say._

"_I know that your youki doesn't call out to mine." – if he expected anything to be said, it hadn't been that._

"_My youki?" – he queried wondering where this was all going to._

"_Yes. This was what Sesshoumaru explained to me whilst I still resided in his home. He said that only the strongest being that would call out to my being – that being my youki to yours – could be my real mate. And given that while you are very handsome and all, it is true that I do not feel that connection to me. So please refraine from declaring that you want me because I know its not true."_

"_But it is true. I want you for my mate!" – he exclaimed feeling like he was an idiot pleading her like that._

"_Stop it Kouga. Don't regress into your childhood with me. It is not only me that has taken notice, it was Sesshoumaru that warned me about you. When he came to pick me up at Kaede's village to take me back into his castle for protection, he said that you shouldn't ignore your real mate in favor of someone you thought you wanted. And he is right. You favored me because I was a reasonable substitute for Kagome now that Kagome herself is no longer female, instead she is male. And this form may be temporary as it could also be permanent, but even I don't know of it. For you to hold me as your mate, it is foolish because there are too many uncertainties that you cannot atone to. What if we become mates – despite the fact that we aren't meant to be – and then I suddenly turn back to being male? Especially before I could grant you an heir. I don't think your pack would like that, and I don't think you would like a male for a mate as you don't seem to lean towards males."_

"_I'm serious damn it! Take me serious Inuyasha!" – he said painfully removed the shikon shards from his legs and offered them to her as a way to mollify her a bit into taking his side._

"_I'm _also_ serious Kouga. If you come back to me again with the pretense of wooing me be assured I will fight you." – and then she stood up removing the grass off her kimono. Only when she was two feet away from him, did she spoke again._

"_Go to Ayame and leave me…" – here she stopped for a moment and then included the next words just in case: "and Kagome alone. You know that Ayame is yours as much as I know that I'm not." – and then she left him alone in the clearing._

End of flashback.

He looked up and saw Ayame standing tall on one of the rock formations of her mountain and knew that as he stared at her youki, he saw the way it beckoned him like he was sure his beckoned hers. No wonder the young woman always left so frustrated whenever he claimed he did not remember the proposal. He had been lost and now that he knew what to look for he understood what Inuyasha had been saying. Suddenly he didn't feel so forlorn anymore.

°°°°

Word of Kouga decidedly not following Inuyasha and his group reached Naraku's knowledge and made him stop and think about the possibilities. Though he no longer had the eyes of Kanna to keep an eye of his enemies, he still got news of everything around him. After all, he had the use of the wind at his orders and though Kagura was a nuisance most of the time with her wishes to be free, she had her uses. What he didn't understand was why was Inuyasha's group of five people now a group of six. Kagura either was withholding important information or something new had developed. He needed to make a new appearance to ascertain as to what was the real situation now.


End file.
